The Crowning Of Atlantis
by Kamiya-Sensei
Summary: ever wondered where the 88 cloths came from and how they were created? what part did the people of Mu have in their creation? And what of the Gemini twins? how is their fate linked to the first Holy War of all times? same universe as Hell is But a passage


THE CROWNING OF ATLANTIS

Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya nor any of the characters created by Masami Kurumada. The plot line remains my own though part of it is canon to the Saint Seiya universe. All original characters are from my sole imagination and belong to me.

This story is set during the mythological era (500 years before Plato wrote about the Atlantis, meaning approximately 3000 years prior to the last Holy War in 1987. )

My description of Atlantis and Greece are based on Plato's writings and the assumed way of life of the people back then.

This story is also linked to my other main fiction "Hell Is But A Passage" and tells the story of the first Holy War fought between Athena and both Hades and Poseidon and should bring into light the tragic fate of the Gemini twins we all know (Saga and Kanon) as well as how the cloths were made and why Atlantis sank beneath the waves.

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THE PROPHECY

Delos, temple of the Pithy, -1000 BC

"Priestess of Apollo, I come to seek answers to our distress. My Goddess is at loss of ideas and our lines diminish a bit more every day. Where are those warriors you said the great Zeus, God of Gods, has promised us?"

The Pithy simply stood on top of her stool, her eyes gazing far off in the distance as if she were contemplating the Gods themselves. For a moment, the man who had made this request feared she would have no answer to give him but after a moment which seemed to him like eternity, she finally spoke up.

" Patience, warrior of Athena. The time will come when those warriors will come. The God of Gods always keeps his promises. He will gave you this army which you have long awaited. And the warriors will be strong. But beware of those who will try to hinder you for there will be curses and many tears shed ere the end has come. Even you, Prince of Athens, will not remain unscathed."

The man seemed to think for a while and finally bowed his head, as in acceptance.

"You have already received the visit of an emissary, did you not? He already told you all you needed to know."

The man nodded in silence, but his attitude was more tense than before. He clenched his fists and tried not to let his anger take over his senses.

"We received the visit of the Atlant and listened with great interest to the revelations he brought to us though many, I dare say, were rather bad omens. And to end it all," he continued, raising his head so to look the priestess in the eyes, "we learned a few months later that he had been murdered at his return to the Lone Continent. Poseidon was kind enough as to send us back his head as a warning."

The Servant of Apollo nodded briefly and made sign for him to stand up.

"Yes, I have known this since long. It was a pity really. But the Ruler of the Sea is not so reckless yet as to risk the wrath of Persephone, Hades and Hermes for not honoring the dead as is the custom."

She rose from her seat and let the shroud fall from her face, revealing a face wrinkled like an old parchment. Still, the man deemed she must have been a beautiful woman in her early years and her eyes still shone brightly in their orbs as those of a maiden barely twenty.

"As I have said before, you must only focus on the revelations he has brought to you. Nothing else is of your concern. And before you may ask, I assure you: what he has said to you is the pure truth of what awaits those who will fight for Athena."

She ended her phrase with a large movement of her arms as if to punctuate her declaration, but it did not stop the young man before her from replying.

"So those who will betray the god of the Sea shall be cursed to relive their treason? How honest such a… reward would be towards those who will proudly fight alongside the Goddess of Wisdom, heedless of the risks they will take? Is this the kind of thanks the God of Gods gives to those of men who choose to loyally fight for his favorite daughter?" he spat.

He had not meant for his words to sound rude, but the prophecy long foretold still seemed to him as an utter injustice. He could not bring himself to believe the lord of Thunder would be so cruel towards mankind.

"Rewards will come in time, Dyomedes. Know that all that the God of Gods decides has a given purpose which might come to be useful in due time." She paused and finally chose to continue. "You have fought well in the Trojan war, young prince but the battle you will now fight is nothing compared to your previous battles. You have seen now what it costs for one man to defy Poseidon and the cost the Goddess who chooses to assist such a man must undertake*. Since the God of Gods has chosen to retrieve himself from these realms and entrusted the Earth to his beloved daughter Athena, war between these two has also never ceased to gain in strength. And when the time comes, other Gods will defy you. Your battles will be harsh. Normal soldiers will stand no chance. Therefore, I tell you once more: take patience and wait for these warriors to arise."

"But how shall we recognize them?"

The young Athenian desperately cried.

For all answer the Priestess pointed her small wrinkled finger to the starry sky.

"See the stars, young prince of Athens? Those who will fight for Athena will bear the sign of one of each of these constellations. They will be the heralds of a new hope and their fists shall rip the sky and their feet crack apart the ground."

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Atlantis, year -980 BC (Year 2 before the sinking of Atlantis)

"Quit fidgeting with your clothes, Saga, it's starting to get on my nerves," an annoyed young prince of Atlantis declared. "This is only another one of those "special" birthday ceremonies," he went on, stressing on the word "special" as much as he could. "Besides, they will barely acknowledge our presence; all eyes will be upon our cousin and future king Kylan."

He tossed an apple in the air and begun chomping on it nonchalantly. Bits of the fruit came down upon his newly sewn Atlantian silk shirt but he made no sign of being annoyed, brushing them absentmindedly away as he continued eating as if nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, the one whom he had addressed to as Saga was contemplating his own reflection in a large mirror, trying to adjust his new clothes as best he could. He ran his fingers across his long dark blue hair and muffled a cry of insults as he noticed all the nots caught up between his fingers. There were times when he truly hated having to look so perfect and dignified though he knew such was his duty as a prince of Atlantis. He lacked the casualness of his brother and sometimes envied him for it. Often, he felt as though his twin was truly living his life fully while he, was merely following a path already drawn out for him. If only he hadnot been born a prince!

He sighed. After a few minutes of battling with his hair, he finally managed to have them neatly combed and spun around to face his brother.

"How do I look?" He asked, brightly.

"How should I know?" Kanon shrugged, still chomping on his apple. " I can't say I'm really sensible to your charms you know. You had better ask one of those new servants who just got in! Like… Selenë, perhaps?"

That comment only managed to get Saga's pale composure turn beet red. Clearly not wanting to pursue on the subject, he decided to counter his brother's assertion with a deadly comment of his own.

"Listen, Kanon, you might not give much importance to such ceremonies but you are still a prince of Atlantis and as such, you should try keeping a bit of dignity, even when you are eating an apple."

He gave his brother a disapproving look to which Kanon answered by throwing the half eaten apple in his direction. He barely had the time to dodge the attack when an orange came flying his way, hitting him square in the face. So it was war his brother wanted? Well, then war he would get indeed. Reaching for the nearest fruit basket he could find, he quickly found himself throwing a large number of oranges, apples and peaches in his twin's direction. The two were clearly enjoying themselves, laughing out loud or yelling curses when one of the projectiles would hit them. At such moments, one could have wondered if these two were truly members of the royal family of Atlantis. At least, this was what the young servant who entered the room must have thought as she caught both siblings in the middle of their confrontation.

"Lord Saga! I cannot believe my eyes!" The young woman seemed to be in complete shock and she tried to muster her incredulity as best she could. " To see your brother discredit himself in such a way truly would not have surprised me, but to see you above all other persons, throwing fruits across the room in your ceremonial clothes, this… Really disappoints me more than anything."

The young maiden lat her arms fall in a tragic movement, making Kanon stifle a laughter, while his brother begun to turn crimson, clearly embarrassed.

"I…hum… It was all Kanon's fault! He started it!" he managed to declare, slightly stuttering.

The maid simply gave him a look of suspicion, clearly not believing a word of his excuse.

"You have to believe me, Selenë, I was only protecting myself."

"With an orange in your hands?"

This time, Kanon could not hold it any longer and started laughing wildly out loud. He had finally to slip out onto the balcony to calm down, while his brother was still desperately trying to defend himself against Selenë's accusations.

"Whatever the reason, you should have shown a bit more of sense and reasoned your brother, instead of following him in his … 'amusements'," she continued, starting to clean up what she could. " This is truly a mess you have done!"

Saga bit his lip in despair and started to help her pick up the damaged fruits around the room.

"Leave this to me!" the young girl said, agassed. "Even if your actions are ridiculous, you remain a prince of Atlantis, it is the job of the servants to clean up your mess."

Saga did not answer and stopped his action, though he had already taken care of most of the damaged apples and oranges. Only a few peaches were left on the floor, but nothing much was left for cleaning. The girl quickly finished her task and gave the two boys a menacing look, as Kanon crept slowly back into the room, his eyes still full of tears of merriment , though his laughs had almost completely ceased.

"Your clothes are completely filthy now," she sighed, clearly depressed. "I will have Liandra bring you a new set of clothes. And try not to sully them once you will be changed."

She gave them a last warning look and made way towards the door. Just as she was about to exit the room, she seemed to remember something and turned once more to face them. Saga, who had started to relax at her departure quickly rose back up, straightening his back and his brother had again to take upon himself not to laugh. His older twin could truly be laughable at times, but after all, he thought, that was why he loved him.

If she noticed their unease, Selenë did not show it.

"With all your mess I had forgotten the reason of my visit in the first place. The queen bids me tell you the high priestess will be here tonight. She will see both of you in private before meeting with our future king."

"The high priestess is coming?"Kanon asked, clearly startled.

The young girl nodded.

"Yes, she is. So try not to make a fool of yourselves this time."

On those words, she left the room almost slamming the door behind her as to remind them that she was clearly still upset with them.

Her departure was marked with a long silence between the two brothers which was only interrupted by the quick visit from the servant charged to bring them some new clothes to wear for the ceremony. Without a word, the two men began to change, both seemingly lost in thoughts of their own which they did not wish to share with one another.

Saga was still thinking about the young servant's words and of how foolish he must have looked in her eyes. Not that he specially cared about what she might think of him of course. He simple preferred to look more dignified and serious in the eyes of the people meant to serve him. He had always believed that a true ruler needed to look respectful in order to be respected in return and being caught in the middle of a food fight was not really his idea of respectfulness.

"What do you suppose she will speak about?"

Kanon's question quickly ripped him away from his reverie, almost taking him off guard.

"Well… Perhaps she will reveal things on our future, who knows? There's many things said about the high priestess but no one ever truly met her apart from the Royal heirs and none speak of it openly."

He shrugged as if the question was of no interest and let himself fall in the nearest armchair he could find.

Kanon seemed to pounder these words for a while before continuing.

" I hear she wears a mask and no one can see her face. Do you reckon that is true?"

Saga raised his gaze to the ceiling and pursed his lips before answering.

"Hmmm… From what I hear, that is true indeed. You cannot actually see her, per say. I have been told she is over 70 years old!"

"What? Over 70? That would be quite a sight!"

"Others say she is a leper."

This time Kanon shivered.

"You're not serious… Are you?"

Seeing his brother's loss of insurance made him almost want to laugh. Those were the times when he felt Kanon was still his little brother after all.

"well, there is only one way to find out, don't you think?"

Kanon smiled back sheepishly.

"I take the bet. If I don't see her face before the end of this ceremony, I shall creep into Poseidon Temple and get a glimpse of her face."

"I take you on that one," was Saga's reply. "But to prove me you have entered Poseidon temple, I shall ask you to bring back something to assure myself of the fulfillment of your quest."

Kanon pondered this for a moment. Usually, being caught in Poseidon Temple was punished by death under Atlantian law. Yet, the bet was worthwhile and after all, what would life be without a little bit of danger in it.

"Well Saga, I think I have just found my evening occupation for today. By morning, I will have seen the Priestess's face."

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_* This is a reference to Odysseus._


End file.
